Credit to TDs for extracting this fairly revealing statement from Ireland’s benevolent dictator. But let us face facts: When Holohan says “September or beyond”, he means “or beyond”: NPHET would have recommended keeping pubs and restaurants closed for indoor dining until the “end of September or beyond” had they not proposed a vaccine pass, the […]
Mandatory Hotel Quarantine was introduced in Ireland at the start of 2021 as part of a Government strategy to help get the country back to normal. Six months on, the policy has completely failed, because Ireland remains the most restricted country in Europe. The policy was introduced, let us not forget, on the basis of […]
The notion, still widely held, that Ireland will be able to return to normality without the mother and father of all battles, took a very big hit yesterday. In the face of all the available international evidence, the Irish Government instead decided to rely on a black box model from NPHET – which nobody can […]
Question: What is the average age of members of the Dáil? The youngest TD is Fianna Fáil’s James O’Connor, who was elected at the absurd age of 22, and is the youngest by nearly a decade from the Social Democrat’s Holly McKeever-Cairns. The median TD, though, is well over 40, and probably closer to 50 […]
The Irish Government, via the Department of Health, has published a tender document seeking bidders to provide hotel rooms, transport, security, and healthcare monitoring for the purpose of providing mandatory hotel quarantine in Ireland into 2022, Gript can reveal. The existence of the tender suggests that, whatever it might say in public, the Irish Government […]
As the government discusses delaying re-opening, there were literally more expert members of NPHET than there were patients in hospital with covid-19 last week. As of Friday the 25th, there were 36 patients in Irish hospitals with Covid-19 according to HSE chief Paul Reid. Additionally, only 13 of these were in ICU. By comparison, there […]
Naturally, no other Irish media outlet appears to have covered this story, because the only international comparisons that interest them are with the UK and the USA, and even then, only if those comparisons flatter Ireland. But it is important to note that Ireland’s approach to covid-19 is an outlier by international standards, and radically […]
Sports journalist Ewan McKenna, responding to the latest Government leaks to the newspapers yesterday, which suggested that the July 5th date for indoor hospitality would be extended further, got pretty close to the truth of the matter with this tweet: This week – We can't reopen much for July. August – Schools going back so […]
We do not really cover sports here at Gript, so it is a delight to be able to write about my beloved Formula One under the guise of writing about the latest evidence that Ireland’s overly cautious pandemic policies are insane. There are two questions here: First, will Max Verstappen embarrass reigning seven-time world champion […]
There was universal delight, and joy unconfined, in the media yesterday, amidst the release of the latest “trust in media” figures from Reuters. Irish people may have turned on the Church, their politicians, big business, and most institutions, but, as it turns out, we sure do love our journalists: Irish people’s trust in media increases […]
The Gardai have received understandable criticism in recent days for enforcing bad, and contradictory, laws about the consumption of alcohol in public places. As such, they have taken the path of least resistance: They’re going to “use their discretion” and simply not enforce the law: Earlier today, Commissioner Harris issued an instruction to regional Assistant […]
The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, which typically attracts as many as 60,000 visitors, has been cancelled again for the second year in a row due to covid-19. The event was due to be held in September in the area close to the Burren in Co. Clare. Festival Organiser Marcus White issued a statement on the decision […]